


Into The Fire Part I: Mirkwood

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Into the Fire [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crossover, GFY, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-28
Updated: 2015-05-28
Packaged: 2018-04-01 15:00:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4024237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Knight alone on an undercover mission when things go rather more wrong than he expects. A blind hyperspace jump, a crash landing, and an escape pod drained by an unknown force leave him trapped on a world where he doesn't speak the language, and no one believes in worlds beyond their own.</p><p>He has to find a way to survive this world, and wait for someone to come looking for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into The Fire Part I: Mirkwood

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks go to lferion for encouragement, and listening while I plot this and the further AU beyond it, and to Nicky_Gabriel for the artwork made to accompany the story (link to come when I have it)!
> 
> There will be a sequel, though it may be a while before I get it done. There is, after all, a dragon to be faced and killed, and a mountain to retake.
> 
> EDIT: Apparently I have confused at least one reader as to expectations of Obi-Wan. This is not Clone Wars Era Obi-Wan, but an AU Obi-Wan who is only five years out from The Phantom Menace, with non-military missions post-Knighting.

Obi-Wan uses the worst of the invectives he'd learned on his missions on the Outer Rim as he pushes the small freighter he's stolen - he hopes the Order can reimburse the pilot for the loss, but he hadn't had time to procure paid transport if he wanted to survive the mission - to its limits. The navicomp is shot, and he doesn't have time to make the calculations for a hyperspace jump manually. Breathing out a prayer to the Force, he inputs jump perimeters by instinct, and engages the hyperdrive. The ship shudders under another blast of laser-canon fire as the stars blur and elongate in the moment of transition.

Sitting back in the pilot's chair, he lets out a small sigh, though there's little relief to be had. Hyperspace may be safe, but he doesn't know if where he'll come out will be, or how well the ship will survive returning to normal space, after that last hit. It had already been in poor shape beforehand.

At least he hadn't needed to worry about anyone else being put in danger by his rather precipitous departure from the planet. No matter what discussion he'd heard around the Temple at his last visit. Five years a Knight, and everyone's beginning to ask when he plans to take his first Padawan, and never mind that he is usually given missions that aren't at all safe for a youngling - nor intends to give those missions up. No, better he doesn't have one.

Letting out a sigh, Obi-Wan looks over the controls, making sure they wouldn't drop out of hyperspace unless the ship is dragged out by a gravity well, before he goes to check the damage he can assess now. He hopes the thing holds together long enough to get him not only to wherever he's jumping blind, but to get back to Coruscant. The mission is riding on the edge of a knife, and he really doesn't want to see what happens if he fails.

* * *

_He could be useful._ Mahal watches the ship that's making its way to one of the planets he and the others have long protected, ever since they'd become aware of the broader galaxy and those who'd exploit the peoples and planets they loved. Even Morgoth had little use for others who could manipulate the Song, when they weren't from their kin, and he liked the darkest melodies he could create and inflict on their shared home.

 _Perhaps, but he will not stay._ Nienna is with him on the outer watches, neither of them particularly comfortable with watching the current conflict of their favored students. No matter they are both hoping for the victory of Nienna's Olorín.

 _Keeping him here is the easy part._ Mahal has watched the galaxy as the species within it have built ships - he has hopes for his dwarrows doing the same when they have the tools to do so - to carry them through the thin and airless seas between worlds. Ships are easy to sabotage without their passengers knowing, if a little more difficult to do when those passengers can manipulate the Song.

Nienna laughs, a ripple in the Song as she agrees with his thought on the matter. It will be easy enough to keep the Man within the circles of Arda, and let him aid those who will need it. All they need do is ensure he lands in an advantageous location.

Mahal takes another look at the ship to see where he needs to manipulate things, and winces. _The trick may not be keeping him here, but getting him here in one piece._ Though if anyone is capable of the feat, he is, and Mahal reaches out to cradle the ship with a scrap of Song, a cautious melody that whispers of danger to the young man on board.

It does seem to work to keep the young man alert to danger, and he provides Mahal with a few new invectives as he does what he can to keep the ship intact. It won't remain so, once it comes up from the depths where sea and Song are closer - if not close enough for most to notice - to where they are more attenuated. Long enough for the boy to bolt into an escape pod that can survive, that Mahal lets Nienna guide to a resting place on the surface of Arda that will suit their purposes.

_Now we shall watch. It should prove interesting._

* * *

The escape pod comes down intact, which Obi-Wan thinks is about the only thing that's gone right since the ship had come out of hyperspace and started to shudder itself apart - there had been the sense that it would have been far worse, but someone really would prefer it weren't. His short glance at the sensors before fleeing to the escape pod hadn't revealed any proximity alerts or technological signals, but he's not sure how much that means, with the state of the freighter.

At least there seems to be no shortage of life, and if even a small amount of the local flora and fauna is edible, he won't have to rely on his emergency supplies to hold him over until the beacon can draw assistance. Although he has some concerns about the local wildlife, with the thick webbing that seems to have cushioned the escape pod's crash through the dense trees. The size of the strands worries him about the size of the spiders which made them, and the sort of prey they try to catch in the webs.

Shaking his head, Obi-Wan retreats back into the escape pod, closing the hatch before he turns to the controls for the emergency beacon. The lights which had been green when he'd taken a moment to look outside were now amber and red, making him frown in concern. Nothing in the pod should have malfunctioned so quickly if the thing were in any kind of decent shape.

As he watches, the rest go red, before they begin to die altogether. Obi-Wan curses, reaching out with the Force to see if he could figure out what was going wrong, only to stumble back a bit when he felt some- thing? one? - some presence that felt rather more overwhelming than he had expected.

He lets out a string of Huttese curses before he runs a hand through his hair, glaring out at the webbing that is prevalent in the forest he's landed in. Out into the wilds of the planet then, though he is reluctant to leave the pod - the further he goes, the harder it will be for anyone to find him. Even if everything is pointing to not being given any real choice.

"That was very rude, whoever you are." He glares at the controls a moment, not even a flicker in the lights giving any indication they've worked before or will do so again. "You can't even be bothered to tell me what you want?"

No response, but he's not particularly surprised, and draws a deep breath, snagging his cloak to settle over his tunics before he opens the hatch again. Nothing has come close to the pod while he's been watching his chance of getting home drained, which is a small mercy.

Reaching out to touch the Force, he winces at the sick feeling it has around him, even though there's strength beneath the taint. Obi-Wan wonders if the spiders are a natural part of the forest, or perhaps a symptom of whatever is poisoning the Force here. He grimaces as the thought of the latter. He doesn't want to think about there possibly being a Dark Jedi of any sort here, or a Sith.

He touches the Force again, letting it guide his footsteps, avoiding touching the webbing as much as possible. The risk of spiders the size of those who made the webs is bad enough without making it blindingly obvious where he is.

It's harder once he's under the trees properly, and the break in the canopy caused by his escape pod is behind him. Very little light makes it down to the ground, and the air is thick, the sickness of the Force heavier here, thriving where sunlight can't reach. Obi-Wan grimaces, focusing on the guidence the Force is providing him through the trees.

How long he walks beneath the trees, he's not certain, but he reaches for his lightsaber as he feels a disturbance creeping closer, something that feels like a knot of the sickness in the Force - one of the spiders that has made the webbing, with spindly legs and a bulbous body. He ignites his lightsaber as it comes closer, the blade carving through the armor and flesh of the thing easily, leaving an awful stench in its wake, and a lingering shriek that seems to have words layered under the high-pitched tone that his ears registered.

Obi-Wan shakes his head, deactivating his lightsaber, though he keeps it in hand. He will need it again sooner rather than later, he's certain, the faint vibrations in the Force like those in a spider's web. A small smile crosses his face, and he reaches out to flick one of the silken threads before he continues through the forest, moving faster now.

He finds a skirmish ahead, more of the spiders trying to catch tall beings that move with the same fluid grace and ease as a Jedi in combat, and who have a strong, bright presence in the Force. Obi-Wan flicks on his lightsaber as one of the spiders comes toward him, his first strike taking off parts of two legs, though it doesn't deter the creature from trying to bite him.

A quick draw on the Force, and he jumps, flipping over in the air to land on the spider's back, a neat arc slicing through the body just in front of his feet. He has to jump again, diving to one side to avoid another spider, rolling and bringing his lightsaber up to slice through the underside of the spider, before using the Force to toss it to one side before it falls on him.

The tall aliens have made short work of the rest of the spiders, and Obi-Wan disengages his lightsaber as he stands, smiling hopefully when their attention turns to him. It doesn't last long, as one of them draws back a bow, an arrow nocked and aimed at his face. The others move to surround him, a few leaping up to take positions on the branches above him. Not neglecting the idea of vertical, then, and not taking chances with his escape.

The one who'd aimed the first arrow in his direction speaks, the language unfamiliar. It sounds like a question, and Obi-Wan assumes he's being asked what he's doing here, or what his name is. Either one is reasonable, though he really doesn't like having weapons aimed at him that he's not sure he can deflect. At least not enough of them.

"My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, and I'm afraid I had a little accident with my ship. You wouldn't be able to tell me where the nearest space port is?" He smiles, hoping there is a space port somewhere, and that the aliens speak Basic, or he's going to have more trouble than he likes to think about.

He gets a momentarily blank look before the red-haired alien snaps out orders in what sounds to be a different language than before, another of them lowering their bow and approaching him cautiously. At least they're not trying to kill him, and Obi-Wan clips his lightsaber to his belt before he spreads his arms, showing them he's unarmed and means no harm. Although when the alien tries to reach for his lightsaber, Obi-Wan takes a step backward, dropping one hand to the hilt.

"I'm afraid I can't let you take that." Even if they don't understand his words, Obi-Wan is not going to let them remove his lightsaber.

The red-haired alien who'd been the first to aim an arrow snorts, meeting his gaze steadily when he turns to look at... her? him? He thinks the alien is female, though he cannot be certain. She lowers her bow slowly, returning the arrow to a quiver on her hip, before letting her gaze drop to his lightsaber a moment. Holding out her hand in a clear demand to give it over to her, accompanied by words he still does not understand.

He shakes his head, though he knows there is a danger in not doing so, the Force whispering in the back of his mind.

Narrowing her eyes, the red-haired alien once again addresses those around him, a few others setting aside bows to come closer to him, two reaching out to grab his arms, holding him as the red-haired alien comes closer.

"You don't need to do that." He puts some Force-suggestion behind the words, and winces when the alien scowls, a knife drawn from a sheath he doesn't see and rested under his chin. "Or I can just be quiet while you take my lightsaber and get it back later."

She speaks, more words he does not understand in what he thinks is the second language. Her tones are angry, and he thinks warning, as well. To stay out of her head, possibly, or that she's immune to mind-tricks. Either would be a reasonable theme to the words, though which is more accurate, Obi-Wan hasn't the least idea.

His lightsaber is taken from his belt while he's held still, and then he's searched, the holdout blaster in his boot taken as well, though the alien looks puzzled by it. She clips his lightsaber onto her belt before she tucks the blaster under it, then says something to those holding him - a command to bind him, since they draw his hands together, and tie them tightly. At least they're tied in front.

"That wasn't necessary, either." He grimaces as he's pushed, stumbling a bit before he catches his balance. "You could have just asked me to go with you." Though this is going about as well as half his missions - either when he was Qui-Gon's Padawan, or since he's been Knighted. Perhaps a little worse, since he doesn't know exactly where he is, and doesn't have a way to guide anyone to him to rescue him. And is without an escape route that doesn't rely on a rescue.

The aliens take him through the forest into an area which has none of the webbing of the area where he crashed, and through gates in a wall that blends into the forest - not invisible, but seeming to be a natural part of the landscape rather than artificial.

Inside, it is all stone and wood, with wide airy spaces and carved columns and bridges without rail or lip. Some of the aliens leave as they make their way through, though the two closest behind him and the red-haired one stay with him as they take him to a room which has a throne in the center, light coming from a skylight overhead to fall directly on the alien sitting on it.

His red-haired captor bows to the alien on the throne, speaking in the second language, presenting both Obi-Wan's lightsaber and his blaster for inspection. He wants to yank the lightsaber back, but for the moment, that's not going to do him any good. Watching at the blond-haired alien turns the lightsaber over in his hands, and the red-haired alien speaks further, possibly a report of what happened in the forest.

The blaster is given a cursory look, as well, before it is handed back to the red-haired alien with a brief comment. Obi-Wan's lightsaber, though, is kept, clipped to the alien monarch's belt - he hopes they don't manage to turn it on and do themselves injury in the process.

Now, he becomes the center of attention, the alien monarch studying him for a long moment before they speak, clearly asking a question - in the first of the languages that Obi-Wan heard, he thinks. There is a pause after, and Obi-Wan just smiles and shrugs, though the inability to communicate is becoming frustrating. Another question, in what he thinks is the second language he heard, and then, when he doesn't answer, a third language that is as unintelligible as the first two.

"I don't suppose you speak Basic?" Obi-Wan isn't surprised at the blank expression that meets his question, and he tries the question again in Mando'a, though that doesn't seem to be any more familiar to his captors. Letting out a sigh, he holds up his bound hands with a hopeful smile. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to untie me."

The alien monarch watches him for a long moment, the Force-presence only slightly more decipherable than their expression - mild curiosity mixed with wariness. More words are spoken, and the red-haired alien bows once more, turning and giving directions to the two behind Obi-Wan.

He frowns when they grab his upper arms, and shifts, reaching out with the Force to grab his lightsaber. Letting the red-haired alien have it while he's being escorted somewhere is one thing. Leaving it in the hands of an alien who doesn't know what they're holding, and who he might not encounter again is not nearly so acceptable.

Obi-Wan draws in a deep breath as his lightsaber smacks into his palm at the same instant the red-haired alien's knife comes to rest against his throat, and holds very still save for wrapping his fingers tightly around the lightsaber hilt.

"I mean no harm."

None of the aliens speaks, though he can feel their tension. Obi-Wan isn't certain quite how long it takes for the alien monarch to call out to the red-haired alien something that makes her remove the knife from Obi-Wan's throat. He relaxes slightly, smiling as he hooks the lightsaber to his belt once more, though the movement is slightly awkward with his hands bound.

A chuckle draws his attention back to the alien monarch, who smiles at him a moment, before tilting their head without a word. Acknowledgement that the lightsaber should remain with Obi-Wan, he hopes.

Further instructions are given, and Obi-Wan doesn't fight as they lead him down to a cell with a pallet and a bucket. The locks are a sort that requires a physical key to manipulate the tumblers, rather than any more modern technology. Like everything else he's seen here so far.

Once he's locked in, Obi-Wan holds his hands out between the bars, though the red-haired alien watches him for a long moment before she unties him.

"I have nowhere to go, ma'am. I won't try to escape." For now. Once he has something resembling a plan and somewhere to go, he makes no promises.

Hopefully he also has at least some understanding of the languages that are spoken here by that point, as well.

The red-haired alien watches him for a long moment before she says something that he doesn't understand, and turns away, leaving Obi-Wan to solitude and his thoughts.

* * *

"What was that?" Bilbo can't stop staring at the sky, where it had seemed a star streaked over their heads, thunder in its wake loud enough to rattle the ground beneath their ponies. He thinks the only reason his pony hasn't carried him off is the sheer luck of having Gandalf grab the bridle and draw the pony to a halt as he did his own.

"I do not know."

"A portent."

Gandalf's quiet confusion mingles with Óin's firm certainty, though neither answer actually tells Bilbo what the roaring thing was. Although as it doesn't appear to have returned, nor is followed by another of similar sort, he supposes it doesn't much matter what it is unless it proves to have caused a problem on the road ahead of them.

"It is possible we shall find answers as we travel, and that it might not be a portent of anything at all, Master Óin." Gandalf lets go of Myrtle's bridle, nudging his pony ahead to catch up with Thorin as the company starts moving again. Bilbo watches as Gandalf rides close to Thorin, the two clearly talking - no doubt about the strange thing that had gone over their heads.

Shaking his head, Bilbo lets out a sigh, and nudges Myrtle back into motion. As Gandalf has said, they'll discover answers further along their journey, though Bilbo isn't certain he wants to know what the thing is or what it means.

* * *

Qui-Gon wakes with a start, a shout echoing in his ears that it takes a moment to realize had been his own. He lifts a hand to flick the light on with a touch of the Force, letting himself see that he is still in his room at the Temple, and not in an escape pod fleeing from a disintegrating ship. The dream clings, images too-bright around the edges like he's been staring too long at one place. It takes several minutes for him to bring his breathing back under control, and the images to settle.

"Master?" The sleepy voice comes as the door to his room is opened, Anakin standing there, brow furrowed as he looks at Qui-Gon. "You were shouting."

"I'm sorry I woke you." Qui-Gon summons a smile that he hopes hides the niggling dread creating a knot in his chest. "It was just a dream."

"Dreams aren't always just dreams." Anakin comes over, the door shutting behind him, and climbs up on Qui-Gon's bed to lean against him, like he hasn't in the last year and a half. "Master Yoda says sometimes dreams are a way to see things we can't see awake."

Qui-Gon wraps an arm around Anakin, feeling the worry through the training bond. More, perhaps, than can be explained by Anakin being woken by his dream-induced shouting. "They can be."

"Obi-Wan's in trouble, isn't he?" Anakin's question makes a chill run down Qui-Gon's spine, too close to what he was thinking about the dream.

"I don't know." He's afraid of precisely that, the dream too vivid still to be merely a nightmare. "What did you see?"

"A forest." Anakin shifts, pulling away again, and drawing his legs up to wrap his arms around his knees. "It was very dark. Spider webs, I think. Aliens with pointy ears."

Not the same dream Qui-Gon had, but connected. "Was there anything else?"

"I think there was an escape pod, and I think Obi-Wan was there, but I don't know." Anakin rests his chin on his knees. "I think I was seeing it through Obi-Wan's eyes."

Rather like Qui-Gon had seen the ship falling apart around him as if he were there, as if he were the one aboard. He reaches out to rest a hand on Anakin's shoulder a moment before he slides out of bed. Whatever is happening, he isn't going to be sleeping more tonight.

"Go dress, Padawan." He smiles when Anakin looks over to meet his gaze, though he can still feel the knot under his sternum. "If these are more than dreams, meditating on them may help to resolve some of the questions."

And if meditation doesn't work, then he will talk to the Council about Obi-Wan's latest mission, and going to find his wayward former Padawan.

* * *

Obi-Wan at least can understand one of the languages spoken here, or enough of it to begin to interact with his gaolers - and they certainly are that, though he at least now is in a nicer cell, with a proper door. A guest room, with the apologies of the alien monarch, Thranduil, but it doesn't make it any less a prison when he cannot leave, nor has a choice of refusing his visitors.

"Thank you." He smiles at the being who's laid out a generous dinner, though the dark-haired alien only nods and leaves without a word. No conversation today, which means he's likely to have either Captain Tauriel - as he'd learned the red-haired alien is named - or King Thranduil join him for the meal. Another interrogation about how he arrived, and why he is here, and where he came from. Lovely.

Snorting, he starts to fill his plate. "At least I'll have a chance to practice my vocabulary in the common tongue." It's the first of the languages he'd heard spoken nearly two local months ago, and is a trade language, as far as he can tell. One that he'd been expected to speak, being human, and had confused his captors by neither speaking nor understanding.

He's begun to eat when the door opens, Thranduil looking at him a moment with faint amusement before the alien waves the guard who's accompanied him to stand at the door, as he always does. "I should not expect manners of you."

Obi-Wan shrugs, leaning back in his seat as he finishes chewing a piece of a mushroom and cheese dish. "No." He has no intention of using the manners Qui-Gon had drilled into him for diplomatic occasions. "I am a prisoner."

"As I have mentioned, you are a guest." Thranduil sits across from him, adding a few choice pieces of what is left to his plate. "I would not care to find you lost and unable to find your way back here, and not all here speak the common tongue."

"So you say." Obi-Wan spears a piece of roast venison, chewing on it while watching Thranduil. Like Tauriel, he'd been resistant to mind-tricks, though Obi-Wan had been far more cautious with trying such on Thranduil. It had been an unsettling experience nonetheless, coming up against a mind that felt more ancient than any other - even Yoda didn't seem so old or alien.

"I would be a poor host otherwise." Thranduil smiles slightly, watching him. "But that is a weary conversation, and one I do not care to have again."

"I cannot tell you where I am from, or why I am here." He has already told them as much as he is able to about how he arrived. That they do not have the vocabulary in their language - likely in any of them - to explain it has been a barrier.

"So you say." Thranduil smirks a moment before he waves a hand, shaking his head. "I have asked what I will on that. I wish to learn more of your sword of light. Tauriel spoke of your making easy work of the spiders with it."

Obi-Wan takes another bite of his food to keep from immediately telling Thranduil the alien could lock him back in the actual cell and he'd still not try explaining a lightsaber to someone not a Jedi. He suspects that much will only amuse the alien monarch, and not stop Thranduil from trying to ferret out what information he's seeking.

"It is a weapon of the Jedi. It is not shared." Obi-Wan shakes his head. "I will not tell you or show you how it is made."

Thranduil tilts his head, a small smile on his face that seems almost mocking. "Such artifacts are rarely otherwise. What are the Jedi? I have never heard tale of any people by such a name."

Blinking, Obi-Wan silently curses the alien's resistance to Force-suggestion. It would make this conversation far easier. "I do not know words for it in the common tongue." It is a delaying tactic only, and one that he doesn't like having to use - and having a smaller vocabulary makes it harder to misdirect Thranduil later.

"A simpler question, then. From where? The south? The east?" There is an edge to the question, though Obi-Wan isn't quite certain why.

He doesn't answer immediately, picking up his glass to sip at the wine. "No and no." Since he's not from the planet, those directions mean little. And he's rimward and spinward of Karazak, which while it could be construed as coming from the galactic west, is not terribly accurate when the alien is asking for where on the planet. "I said I could not tell you where I was from."

Thranduil's smile is thin and unamused. "And thus you remain a guarded guest."

"Prisoner." Obi-Wan returns the smile with a cheerful one of his own, enjoying the disconcerted expression that brings to Thranduil's face, however briefly.

"However you wish to see it." Thranduil flicks his hand, his sleeve flaring a moment. "It matters little to me."

Obi-Wan sighs, reaching for his glass again. "If I knew the words, I would tell you." For all the good it would do him, since he has no way of getting off this planet without a rescue. One which he's not sure if he should expect, since his mission had been confidential and he had made the blind jump through hyperspace.

"Yet you claim to come from no direction." Thranduil is watching him with narrowed eyes. "There is only beneath the earth or the stars, if you claim no place else, and none have come from the uttermost West in two Ages of Arda."

Watching the subtle gestures Thranduil makes as he speaks gives Obi-Wan some idea of the new words, and he smirks, taking another sip of his wine. "Well, I did not come from beneath the earth."

"You wish me to believe you came from the uttermost West?" Thranduil laughs, his smile sharp and dangerous. "You are neither Eldar nor Istari, and you have none of the grace or grandeur that the Valar are said to have."

"What are those? Eldar, Istari, and Valar? I have not heard of any of them."

The flat look that Thranduil gives him makes Obi-Wan smile again, setting his glass aside in favor of another bite of venison.

"I am of the Eldar, as are all my kin." Thranduil reaches for his own wine, sipping at it a moment. "The Istari have the seeming of aged men, but they wield more power than you, and have a life that is beyond the span a mortal's might reach."

That leaves the Valar, and Thranduil doesn't speak for a long moment, giving every impression of studying his wine. It's a very good vintage, but Obi-Wan doubts it's half as fascinating as Thranduil is pretending.

"And the Valar?"

"I do not know how you might have come to the Greenwood without any knowledge of the world, or those beyond it." Thranduil sighs, taking a long sip of his wine before he glares at Obi-Wan. "The Valar are those who created Arda, and still watch over their creation."

Obi-Wan blinks, and lets out several choice curses. Running a hand through his hair, he mutters in Basic, "Force-beings. Those are supposed to be a myth."

Thranduil is watching him, one eyebrow raised slightly, wine glass held still above the table. "Is something amiss, Master Kenobi?"

He decides to ignore the mistaken title, drawing in a deep breath. "Yes."

"Something of which you might speak?" Thranduil takes a sip of his wine, leaning back in his chair slightly, watching Obi-Wan with a curious glimmer in his eyes.

Fiddling with his fork a moment, Obi-Wan studies Thranduil. Even if he doesn't tell the alien monarch - Eldar monarch, and certainly a name that suits the aliens, if they're all as long lived as Thranduil - eventually Thranduil will find out, if these Valar truly do keep as close an eye on the planet as he implies.

"If I can find the words." Obi-Wan spears a piece of vegetable as he speaks, hoping his vocabulary is up to the conversation, and worried that it will not be. "I did not come here by choice. My - " Obi-Wan pauses, trying to find the right words. "My thing that goes on water." Because explaining space is going to be interesting, and he knows that most species use the same name for starships as for water-borne ships.

"A ship," Thranduil supplies, setting his glass down as he speaks.

"My ship was broken. My smaller ship came down here, and was made broken by a Valar after it came down." Obi-Wan pauses, reaching for his wine glass again, watching Thranduil's expression. "I felt a Force-being - a Valar with no body - on my smaller ship when it was made broken."

"From where did you sail?" Thranduil's expression is less readable than before, emotions shut away, though Obi-Wan can still feel some of the curiosity - and faint disbelief - in the Force.

"Karazak." Obi-Wan knows it means nothing to Thranduil, and he pauses to drink before he adds, "It is like Arda, not on Arda."

"Again, you wish me to believe you come from the uttermost West?" Thranduil lets out a delicate snort, an amused smirk gracing his face after a moment.

"No. I have not been to that place." Obi-Wan sighs, leaning back in his chair, and reverting to Basic for a moment. "I didn't have a chance to see what the landmasses on this planet were before I landed, nor to check for other planets. The ship was too close to self-destructing."

Thranduil narrows his eyes a moment, before sighing, and setting his glass aside. "I will learn what you do not tell me."

"Some." Obi-Wan shrugs, smiling briefly. "I will not tell all of what I know." He will tell as little as he can, about some things.

Thranduil watches him for a long moment more, before he drains his wine glass, and stands. At least he doesn't make any cliched farewells, sweeping out silently instead, the door shutting lightly behind him.

Sagging back against his chair, Obi-Wan lets out a slow breath, feeling unexpectedly as if he's been running the obstacle course for hours, and glad for the chance to finish his dinner in peace.

* * *

_He's doing well._ Nienna watches Obi-Wan as he settles into meditation after his meal, glancing over to Yavanna as she's trying to soothe a snarl in the Song, around the escape pod Obi-Wan had landed in. _Is your husband still prodding at that thing?_

 _It's mechanical, of course he is._ Yavanna laughs, amusement and cheer echoing in the Song. _He'll grow bored sooner or later._

 _I will not._ Mahal doesn't even bother to turn most of his attention from the escape pod. _And if by some remote chance I do, there's the boy to watch, and the older one..._

 _Qui-Gon is his name, dear, and the boy is Anakin._ Yavanna reaches over to prod him. _You should watch them for a while. The children will get curious about this place if you're not careful about how long you're interacting with their melody, and Anakin and Qui-Gon are still looking for Obi-Wan._

Mahal sighs, drawing his attention away from the escape pod with reluctance. _I suppose I ought to watch them. The boy **is** interesting._

Nienna snorts as Yavanna drags Mahal toward the outer watches, before turning her attention back to Obi-Wan. _You will see more of grief in the span of your years than you will like, little one._

She lets her mind brush the edges of his, whispering a promise that he will not have the grief that once he might have.

 _Are you meddling with my boy, sister?_ Irmo watches Obi-Wan over Nienna's shoulder, a quiet pride echoing through the Song.

 _He is only yours in that you have thought to watch him since he was a very small child._ Nienna laughs softly. _You and Estë both._

 _He dreams more clearly than half those meddlers._ Irmo shrugs, tugging her away from Arda to the quiet of Lorien.

"You meddled first." Nienna sits on one of the benches, leaning back on her hands as she watches the stars. "Yavanna's boy should have died on Naboo, you know that."

"She's not the only one who likes him." Irmo sits on the ground, leaning against her legs, his head tilted back so he can watch her. "Estë didn't think it would hurt."

"Without Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan never would have come to Arda." Nienna looks down at her brother, raising an eyebrow. "Which while useful, wasn't supposed to happen."

Irmo grins, and shrugs. "And so it did not, in another melody. Does it matter that we have sung a different melody here than there?"

"Perhaps." Nienna shifts her weight to one hand, combing her fingers through Irmo's hair. "I do like having Obi-Wan here, though. Aulë's children will find him helpful."

"And they might not suffer if Olórin leaves them as he is planning." Irmo pauses. "Not as greatly."

"Perhaps not." Nienna shrugs, a smile crossing her face. "It shall be interesting to watch."

Irmo grins again, his mirth and certainty a harmony in the Song.

* * *

Obi-Wan leans his head against the wall of the cell - perhaps finding the one eldar in the palace who he could mind-trick and attempting to escape wasn't the best idea, but he's been here long enough he's lost track how long it might be on the standard calendar. Long enough to become bored. Although, at least now there's none of the pretense that he's anything like a guest. He finds he prefers that honesty.

Letting out a quiet sigh, he closes his eyes to meditate, since he has little else to do until someone comes with dinner. Perhaps Tauriel, which will at least mean some sort of conversation.

Instead, his peace is interrupted by angry grumbles and near-shouts, and he opens his eyes to watch the eldar heard a group of rather shorter people into the cells around him. People who appear to have had a rather closer encounter with the spiders than Obi-Wan had managed, with bits of webbing sticking to them.

"You're not even being so kind as to give them a chance to wash away their encounter with your pet spiders?" He smiles when Tauriel glares at him as she's escorting a dark-haired young man. "I see your manners haven't improved since you brought me here."

Tauriel narrows her eyes, snapping out an order to one of the others in their private language - Obi-Wan still hasn't learned much of it - and prodding the young man over to Obi-Wan's cell. "Since you have the manners of a dwarf, it is fitting you'll have to share your cell with one."

"Shall I take that as a compliment?" Obi-Wan leans back against the wall, making it very clear he's not intending to move as the door is unlocked, and the young man pushed inside. "Perhaps I ought to insult your manners more often, if it means I've company to talk to in your absence."

That earns him only another irritated glare, and the door is shut a moment later with a sharp clang. Obi-Wan snorts, curling his lips upward in a wry smile.

"That went rather well." Obi-Wan waves a hand at the pallet, inviting the young man to join him, since the other option is the bare stone of the floor, and that's rather less comfortable than even the thin pallet they've provided for sleeping on. "Though I'll have to pester them for a second pallet." He pauses, watching as the young man simply stares at him. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No." The young man draws a breath, his lips quirking upward a moment. "Kíli, at your service." He makes an abbreviated bow, though Obi-Wan suspects it would have been more impressive if the cell had enough room. "I didn't know the elves hated Men as much as they do dwarves."

"I don't know if they do or do not, though I'm afraid I seem to be very adept at annoying the good Captain, among others." Obi-Wan shrugs, grinning a moment in response to Kíli's own smile. "I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, at your service." If nothing else, using the same manner of introduction is likely to put Kíli a bit more at ease, not that it looks likely to take much.

"What did you do to be put in here?" Kíli drops onto the pallet, putting his back to the bars so he can face Obi-Wan.

"I tried to leave, as I was rather tired of being the king's guest. He didn't take too well to my means of escape, and thought it would be better that I were here once they recaptured me, rather than the room they'd left me in before." He shrugs, shifting to put his back against the wall opposite the door. "I don't think they particularly appreciated my crashing into their forest and killing some of their spiders, either."

Kíli grins, though there's some confusion in his Force-presence - something less than the Eldar, but still stronger than most beings. "I don't think they like other people getting in the way of their hunting the things. How do you crash into a forest?"

"With a ship that flies." Obi-Wan pauses, thinking of the freighter he'd been in. "At least it flew until it was destroyed. Then I fell, in a smaller ship. And crashed."

"I've never seen a ship fly before. Where do you come from?" Kíli sits up a little more, leaning toward Obi-Wan with wide eyes, and an open curiosity that is a refreshing change from the hostility and disdain of Tauriel and Thranduil, respectively. "Does everyone there have a flying ship?"

"Not everyone, but there are some who do own their own flying ships." Obi-Wan brings up one foot, draping his arm across the upraised knee. "I came from Karazak, though I didn't mean to come here."

"Where were you going?"

"Coruscant, once I corrected my course." Obi-Wan hopes he will eventually see Coruscant again, even if the mission he'd been on is likely entirely moot at this point. Being trapped on a planet which hasn't discovered space-travel, and has Force-beings protecting it from those who have is not part of his plan for his life.

"Where are Karazak and Koresant? I've never heard of either. Are they across the sea? Or in Harad?"

"Neither. Coruscant and Karazak aren't lands or cities. They're worlds."

Kíli is silent for a long moment, a frown on his face, and a confusion once more dominating his emotions. "Do your flying ships look like stars while they're flying? And sound like thunder?"

"Not always." Obi-Wan watches Kíli a moment before he adds, "Though I imagine it did when I was crashing here. The air burns around the hull, and makes both light and thunder."

A bright grin crosses Kíli's face, and he leans forward again. "Is it nearby? Could we use it to travel out of Mirkwood?"

"Nearby, but I'm afraid it's broken, and there are spiders between here and there." Obi-Wan isn't actually certain of the spiders, but he's at least certain the eldar cannot get into the escape pod, nor move it from where it landed.

"What's broken? Dwarves are very good at making things and repairing things. We might be able to fix it for you. And we fought the spiders before, and almost won while still only half-awake. Getting past them while alert shouldn't be any trouble at all."

There is optimism in Kíli's words as well as confidence, but Obi-Wan is certain that no one with any sense would let an untrained civilian into a forest known to have spiders large enough to eat people. And no one he has met seems to be a fool. Annoying, rude, and stubborn, but not foolish.

"If you have a power source which can replace the one which was drained upon my arrival by something outside of the ship, I could repair it easily enough. It wouldn't allow very many to travel in it at a time. It is only a four-person ship, if all are well known to each other."

Kíli sighs, slumping back against the bars. "Perhaps after we regain the Mountain, then. If we can sneak into Mirkwood to find it."

"Regain what mountain?" Obi-Wan isn't actually certain how a single mountain might be lost or regained, but if it is something important, perhaps he might help, especially if he is trapped here for an unknown time longer.

"Our home." Kíli smiles a moment, cheerful amusement coloring his Force-presence. "I've never seen it, but it's still home. Uncle and mam were born there, before the dragon came."

The only dragons Obi-Wan's heard of are the Krayt dragons of Tatooine, and if whatever Kíli is talking about resembles those beasts in the least, he isn't certain that he would care to go up against one without a ship with laser canons.

"Tell me more about this dragon, and the mountain." Obi-Wan settles a little more comfortably against the pallet, giving Kíli a small smile.

Kíli returns it with one of his own, and starts to spin a story that Obi-Wan would be willing to wager is one he'd heard often as he grew up, about a kingdom under a mountain, wealth beyond measure, and a dragon that had taken it all away.

* * *

Obi-Wan can feel Thranduil's cold anger in the Force as guards escort him out of the throne room - as impressive now as it had been the first time - in a different direction than he'd entered. He has a bad feeling, and contemplates just trying to knock the guards heads together and make a run for it. A prospect which would be easier if the eldar didn't have nearly Jedi-swift reactions.

Taking a deep breath, Obi-Wan lets himself be guided down, deeper into the caverns than he had been before, and to a door far more solid than the barred one of the cell he'd been in before. It's a different key, as well, and one of the three guards stands to the side where they can watch the interior of the cell as the door is opened. Another cell-mate, then, and Obi-Wan wonders if this is why he had a bad feeling. Someone that Thranduil has isolated is either dangerous or more highly disliked than the dwarves. Perhaps both.

"It's not time for dinner yet, and I have no desire to have your king try my patience again." The occupant of the cell sounds weary, yet amused, the voice deeper than any of those Obi-Wan has met before. The dwarf who shouted rather more - and rudely - at the eldar, that Kíli had called Dwalin, might have as deep a voice, but none of the others, and certainly none of the eldar.

The guards don't speak, and Obi-Wan steps into the cell once the door is open, rather than being shoved inside. There's a dwarf sitting to one side, who watches him as the door is shut behind him.

Obi-Wan studies his new cell-mate in turn, taking in the rich colors of the clothes, the short beard, and the neatly combed hair that hangs loose otherwise. A dwarf either very important or utterly not so, if Kíli's answers to his curious questions have been accurate, and more likely the former if Thranduil deems him in need of a solitary cell.

He reaches out in the Force, carefully, despite the continuing foreboding that lurks at the back of his mind. The strength of presence the dwarf has makes him struggle to control the desire to step back a moment, and Obi-Wan blinks, sucking in a quiet breath.

"I did not think Thranduil would have great malice for Men." The dwarf is watching him with slightly narrowed eyes now - he had to have noticed Obi-Wan's reaction to his Force-presence, though there's no sign he's a Force-user that might have noticed the light probe. "Why would he send you in with his enemy?"

Obi-Wan shrugs, looking around the cell a moment before he settles on the floor across from the dwarf. There isn't even a pallet here to sleep on, only smooth stone under him. "He doesn't seem to like me very much." He lets a wry smile curve his lips a moment. "I wasn't terribly appreciative of his hospitality."

The dwarf chuckles, tilting his head to Obi-Wan. "It is somewhat lacking."

Grinning, Obi-Wan leans back against the wall, bringing one knee up to rest an arm over it. "And the people here are so terribly rude, insisting that I stay when I wish to leave."

That gets him mild surprise, and a hint of curiosity in the Force, the dwarf studying him again for a long moment. "I am surprised they gave you the freedom to attempt to do so."

"There was one accommodating fellow, though he is apparently among the minority." Obi-Wan has earned more than one annoyed look from an eldar when he has tried to mind-trick them since. The one who'd fallen for it before has been kept far from him.

"I have yet to meet an elf who would knowingly allow a guest to leave." There's a touch of bitter irony, a twist of the word guest.

Obi-Wan grins a moment. "I may have been a little cruel, talking him around to doing so. I have yet to see him again."

"No doubt his only punishment is to be never allowed near outsiders again." The dwarf shrugs. "Yours, I suspect, was the greater punishment."

"I don't know. The cell wasn't the most comfortable, but they did bring me most excellent company. Until I annoyed our host once more." He gestures with one hand at the cell they're in. "That earned me this, and your company instead. I have yet to decide if that is a reward or merely a change in scenery."

"Company?" The dwarf frowns, sitting up a fraction, though his outward reaction is far more subdued than the spike of curiosity and mingled hope and despair Obi-Wan can feel in the Force.

"Another dwarf, as it happens. Kíli, and there were others in the cells around us."

"How many?" Urgency enters the dwarf's voice, and another question follows quickly on the heels of the first. "Was there anyone not a dwarf among them?"

"Eleven." Obi-Wan tilts his head slightly, watching the dwarf. "Why do you ask?"

There is silence for a long moment, and Obi-Wan has the distinct feeling he's being evaluated. The foreboding feeling of earlier still lingers, and he wonders what he is missing.

"Kíli is my kin." The words are true, but there's an evasion in them as well, and Obi-Wan keeps his expression open, curious. The dwarf may be the uncle which Kíli had spoken of so warmly, Thorin, though he's not going to make that assumption aloud until he hears a name from the dwarf himself. "The others, likewise, and good companions. I had hoped they would not have suffered the same fate as I."

"They are not kept alone, so I dare say it is not as bothersome to them." Obi-Wan pauses, then tilts his head. "And I have forgotten to give you my name. I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, at your service."

"Thorin Oakenshield, at yours."

The feeling of foreboding evaporates like spilled water on Tatooine after Thorin speaks, and Obi-Wan wonders if it would have lingered longer if the dwarf had not chosen to give his name.

"And I am Bilbo Baggins, since we're exchanging names." The voice is unfamiliar, but higher pitched than those of dwarves or eldar, and a little lower to the ground. Whoever the voice belongs to is not tall enough to be seen through the grate near the top of the door, though there are bare, furry feet visible through the space under the door, which is large enough for a tray of food, but little else. Maybe a mouse droid, if there were one in Mirkwood.

"Mr. Baggins!" Thorin's eyes widen, and he smiles for a moment before he pushes to his feet, going over to the door. "I feared you had been lost, since Master Kenobi did not speak of you being among the others."

"Well, I am not lost, no matter the efforts of the elves to make it impossible for anyone to find their way in this dratted maze of theirs. I had only lacked knowing where to find you in order to break everyone out."

"You've found a way out?" Obi-Wan had not had a chance to find a way out himself, other than the gate he'd been brought in by, even with the Force to guide him. "Where?"

"That's best kept to myself for the moment. I don't know how long I'll have to talk before someone comes along again. And we have to wait a few days yet, they've a party of some sort planned."

A distraction to keep the eldar busy while their prisoners sneak out under their noses. Obi-Wan grins, approving, and meets the same expression when Thorin turns to glance at him.

"We shall be ready when you require us to be, Mr. Baggins."

"I should hope so." Bilbo pauses a moment, a vague hint of indecision in the eddies of the Force. "The way out will bring the rest of them by here last, I'm afraid. I won't be able to unlock your door and explain until very nearly the last minute."

"Leave the door to me." Obi-Wan shakes his head when Thorin turns again, a puzzled frown on his face. He doesn't want to attempt to explain his lightsaber right now, and it will be easier to show when the time comes to escape.

"Right." There's confusion in Bilbo's voice, and he pauses again. "Do you have any messages you want me to take to the others, Thorin?"

Thorin is silent a long moment before he relays several short messages - for Kíli, for Fíli, for Dwalin, and for Balin. As well as the message that he is well, for all.

"And tell Kíli his friend Master Kenobi..."

"Actually, Knight Kenobi is more accurate, and I would really prefer if you were to call me Obi-Wan." Obi-Wan knows he's not nearly ready to be called a Jedi Master, and though no one here knows why he will refuse the title, he still ought.

Thorin tilts his head in acknowledgement, and continues, "Tell Kíli that Obi-Wan is here, safe and as well as any guest of elves might be."

* * *

"How do you intend to open the door without keys, or any manner of reaching the lock to pick it?"

Thorin is watching Obi-Wan as they wait for Bilbo and the others, several days later. The hobbit - as he's learned Bilbo's species to be, from the visits he's paid Thorin and Obi-Wan - had come by to tell them to be ready maybe half an hour ago, accompanied by the same sense of foreboding that often preceeded his visits, and followed them, if only briefly.

"I don't need to see the lock to destroy it." Obi-Wan rubs his thumb over the activation switch of his lightsaber, but doesn't ignite it yet. Soon, though. There's a feeling of anticipation in the Force, a waiting tension that plucks at Obi-Wan's senses. "I just need to know where to cut the door."

He can feel the incredulous stare Thorin is giving him, and Obi-Wan looks over with a grin, holding up his lightsaber hilt.

"What sort of magic does that metal hold, that it will cut through an elvish prison door?"

"The metal won't. The blade will." Obi-Wan listens a moment longer to the currents of the Force, before activating the lightsaber, carving a rough half-circle around the lock, and through the bar that was also on the door - an extra piece of security while the guards are less attentive, though it is not enough.

"An intriguing blade, indeed. Do all who come from your home carry such?"

"No." Obi-Wan hangs the lightsaber back on his belt once he deactivates it, gently pushing the door open and stepping out. Bilbo is just coming around a corner, and he stops short, staring at Obi-Wan. "Only Jedi carry such weapons."

And Sith, but he doesn't think that needs to be shared at the moment. Perhaps, if he ever finds a way off this planet, he will leave the information with Thorin and the dwarves, to give them some warning of the dangers that may or may not come calling. Hopefully, whatever it was that disabled his ship is also capable of keeping Sith off the planet's surface.

Uncle!" Kíli pushes his way past Bilbo, and the two dwarves who are immediately behind the hobbit. There's a blond-haired dwarf right next to him, and they both stop short in front of Thorin, though Obi-Wan can imagine they'd tackle their uncle if there weren't so many witnesses.

Thorin smiles, no doubt aware of the same, and then looks past them at Bilbo. "Mr. Baggins, this is your plan. Where are we leaving this place?"

"Um. Right. This way." Bilbo edges around Obi-Wan carefully, leading them down the tunnel, and a long flight of stairs into what appears to be a pantry and wine cellar, the sound of someone snoring filling the air.

"Over there, the empty barrels." Bilbo points before anyone can ask questions - Obi-Wan can feel the mix of confusion and annoyance - to where the mentioned items are. "There's a lever, that opens a trap door, and lets them out into the river to float away."

Back to wherever the supplies came from, and away from the underground palace, Obi-Wan assumes.

It's not long before everyone save Obi-Wan and Bilbo are in barrels, and sealed in safely, and Bilbo gives Obi-Wan a look, like he's expecting him to climb in as well.

"I can launch the barrels just fine myself, Mr. Baggins." Obi-Wan nods toward one of the two remaining empty barrels. "You go on."

"It's my plan, so I ought to take the risk of being caught if something goes wrong." Bilbo still is all but a blank spot in the Force, and he's very good at hiding behind a blankly polite expression when he's trying - or hobbit expressions are very different from what Obi-Wan is used to, but he doubts it - and leaving Obi-Wan with nothing but his instincts to read the situation.

"Do you swim?"

"Er." The hobbit looks down. "No. Most hobbits don't."

"Then in you go." Obi-Wan gestures to the barrels again. "I'll get the lever."

Once Bilbo is in his own barrel, Obi-Wan uses the Force to help get himself into the remaining barrel, the lid floating up toward him as he reaches for the lever with the Force as well. It's well-oiled, and moves easily once he wraps it tightly, and Obi-Wan doesn't have long to yank the lid into place before he's tumbling through the air in the barrel, and splashing into the water below.

* * *

Anakin is glaring at the navicomp as Qui-Gon tries to raise someone on the coms while they float in real-space. Nothing should have gone wrong with it on that jump. There were no power-surges, no warning in the Force, just a quiet pop, and a rising trickle of smoke that he'd quickly sprayed with fire-suppressant, as soon as they'd dropped out of hyperspace.

"We can still calculate the jump back to Coruscant manually, Padawan." Qui-Gon rests a hand on Anakin's shoulder, drawing Anakin's attention back to his Master. "And bring more parts to repair it if it breaks on the next attempt."

"Why don't we just calculate the next jump by hand, then?" Anakin looks away from the broken navicomp, meeting Qui-Gon's calm gaze for a moment before he looks away again, this time glaring out at the blackness of space. "It will take too long to go back to Coruscant and try again."

He can feel it, is absolutely certain they don't have time, not in this little ship, to return to Coruscant.

"It's not fast enough. We need to keep looking for Obi-Wan." Anakin looks back to Qui-Gon, refusing to look away again. "And besides, I don't think we'll find _any_ navicomp that will work. Something's breaking it."

As if someone doesn't want them to find Obi-Wan.

There's silence from his Master for a long moment before Qui-Gon sighs, ruffling Anakin's hair. "I'm afraid you may be right, Padawan."

"Do you want me to calculate the next jump?"

"No." Qui-Gon smiles to take any sting out of the negative. "I want you to find what's breaking the navicomp. Be careful, though."

Anakin worries at his lip a moment before nodding. Whatever's trying to keep them from finding Obi-Wan might try to break other things if the broken navicomp doesn't chase them off. "Yes, Master."

**Author's Note:**

> Trolling in the comments section will be deleted, as will any response I make to them, as they do not add to the conversation.


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